Three Months
by queenieBunni
Summary: After saving the genin Leafnin team from Orichimaru's Henchgroup, the Sandtrio stays in Konoha for three months. What opportunities would this present for Shikamaru and Temari?


**Three Months**

_ANGoing through the manga chapters, I realized it's possible that the Sand trio could have possibly stayed in Konoha for 3 months after defeating Orichimaru's henchmen group. Especially since the scene with them leaving is after the scene that notified readers it was three months later. Of course, the natural assumption is that the Sand trio wouldn't stay for long, but I wanted to explore the possibilities if they did stay for 3 months. Quick shoutout to all my ShikaxTema writers out there! Our fandom rocks so hard! Currently rated Teen, may change later. We'll see how it goes. Enjoy!  
_

**Month One**

You know, he really wasn't that kind of guy. Not the kind to buy a girl flowers or say sweet things just to see her smile. Or at least, he thought he wasn't. The coy giggle of a girl was not music to his ear and satisfaction to his ego, it was annoying. But he loved the way she laughed as if she didn't have a care in the world nor cared whether anyone heard her. This mix of confidence and reckless abandon drew him to this monster of a woman.

He had always had a special interest in her, every since their encounter so long ago, when he was still so young. It wasn't love then, but he had always been curious about how she was doing, how far she was progressing with her training, and what people said about her. He had compared himself to her, imagined himself in her situations, reworking every story he heard about her with himself in it, generally with the conclusion that the story had a better ending with him involvement. But the truth was that his stories were better with her in it. Especially that encounter with the Orochimaru's pink haired bitch.

Her abilities deserved endless praise, but what struck him more was how she was coming to his rescue. She was rescuing him. He had wanted to laugh the way she did. The relief and happiness that he was going to live coiled with the fact that just minutes ago he had been so desperate, so hopeless. Life had not set out an easy road for him, but it had offered him this brazen goddess and he had never been so happy to see a person in his life.

And then there was the aftermath. He had almost drowned in it, but her eyes never allowed him to flatter. He was fighting for air, and she did not say the words he wanted to hear. He wanted to know that he had done his best and that it was acceptable but he knew that was not the truth. The truth was what she had told him. He had been confused. Why was she there if all she was going to offer was the harsh realities? Did she not know how to comfort? What kind of female was she without an arsenal of tender words?

After he had collected himself back together and seen to his team, he wanted to see her, but she was gone from the hospital. He wanted to defend himself; he wanted to take back what he had said. He wanted her to know that he was capable. She had seen his fragility and how much of a child he still was. Commenting that "men are strange" instead of blaming his weakness on his boyness was a mercy move on her part. Would she loose her interest in him now that he had proven himself not worthy to be someone who had once defeated her?

That night he could not go home. Ino had returned to the hospital after their quite dinner together. He could not face his father yet and the thought of how his mother would fuss over him made him grimace. He wandered the streets until he found a lively restaurant to have some tea. He let the bubbling conversation and lights around him fill him.

"It's amazing how life goes on isn't it?"

He focused on the bottle of sake she placed between them as she sat rather than her. "Uh."

"Kids will still continue to torment other children. Men will cheat on women. Bad people will continue to hurt good ones, and likewise, the good will continue to hunt down the bad." She lifted the saucer like cup to her lips and drank.

"And here I was thinking that you were going to say something cheerful." He reached for the sake bottle. She slapped his hand away.

"Drinking is not good for you, it addles the senses."

He stared at her. Part of his mind dared her to suggest that he was too young, but his lazy nature won and he sipped his tea. "Uh-huh."

"It's a bad habit." She stared off into the distance. "The Kazekage's civilian guests always thought it was fun to slip me drinks while he was not looking."

He detected the disgust in her voice. He wondered but did not ask.

She supplied the answer anyways. "I was too young to realize what they were doing. Apparently drunkenness is considered an amusement outside of the Hidden Villages. Politeness required that the children of the Kazekage be introduced to all the 'important' guests. I am the oldest and I did not want my bothers to go."

He wished she would continue. Tell him more about herself, move his attentions away from his own failure, but she did not. She had realized how open she was being with him, and it had caught her off guard.

"Let's get out of here." He got up and waited for her to do the same.

She paused, wondering if she should be concerned with his initiative. Gulping down the rest of the sake, she got up and followed him into the night.

And that's how it continued for the next couple of weeks, they would meet after dinner and sit around and talk for a bit. They talked about a lot of things. He described the medicine and the history of his clan. She described life in Suna and the quirks of her brothers. He noticed that she talked about her brothers a good amount. They were so important to her, all she had. Sometimes they didn't even talk, they met at his cloud gazing spot, and sometimes they played shogi. She would always put up a good fight but he always won. His parents assumed that he was with Chouji. He had no idea where her brothers thought she was and she told him not to worry about it.

The three sandnin didn't quite blend into Konoha seamless, but they were accepted by their comrades, now friends. They weren't close but there weren't any fights or arguments. A steady respect developed between Neji, Shino, Rock Lee, and Gaara and they spared together often after everyone recovered. Kankurou and Kiba could often be found getting into some kind of trouble around town.

Of course, it wasn't all fun and games. Gaara would often sit in on administrative meetings with the Hokage. He was there as an emissary of Suna. Temari told Shikamaru that Gaara's temporary placement here was all his idea. Gaara wanted to come and observe how life in Konoha was different from life in Suna, and since a permanent liaison between the two villages had yet to be appointed, the elders of Suna allowed to Gaara to have his whim.

"They wanted him out of the way so they can deliberate on who will be the next Kazekage." He did not inquire, he simply stated.

"There are many who are vying for that position, but not one who has stood out." Though Gaara was never her beloved little brother, it still agitated Temari when other people acted negatively towards him and did not even allow him his rightful place as a candidate to be Kazekage. He may have been a monster, but he was her monster little brother.

"He is here to learn how to run a hidden village."

She threw him an annoyed look. Did he really think that she was that easily tricked into an answer? "So you do use that genius brain of yours."

"Well I certainly haven't been winning every game of Shogi by luck."

His smug expression was quickly wiped off with a glare and a smack on the shoulder that sent him rolling down the hill they had been sitting on.

"Troublesome woman," He grumbled. "What if I had been hurt, huh?"

Her laughter drifted down to him, "Then I'll just have to find someone else to escort me to the Reception dinner for the daimyo."

Temari thought that the confused look on the boy genius was very appropriate and even cute, she would have to do that more often.


End file.
